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Tag Archives: Advent Calendar

It’s Christmas Eve! Truth be told, I like Christmas Eve even better than Christmas Day. Today’s entry on the calendar was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818 in a parish church in a village in Germany. I love the simplicity and beauty of this carol, and so I wanted to share a version that reflected that beauty and simplicity. This is “Silent Night,” released on the 1999 album Christmas by Low.

Today’s track is from Tori Amos and it’s from her 2009 Christmas album, Midwinter Graces. I chose “Holly Ivy and Rose/Snow Angel,” a live performance from her tour with Dutch Metropole Orchestra.

While I’m not as obsessed as some, believe me, I have seen Tori live about a dozen times; she can pretty much be counted on to deliver a solid show. She’s been known to engage with the audience throughout her career; and one of the nice surprises of a live Tori Amos show is hearing her do an improv on the spot about whatever’s on her mind that day.

At the beginning of this video from the Amsterdam show, she sings a brief improv in support of her tour mates, the Metropole Orchestra, who were at risk of losing their funding from the Dutch government. They were subsequently provided funding until 2017, so, happily, the music played on.

Anyway, let’s get on with it – here’s “Holly Ivy and Rose/Snow Angel.”

This is another oldie but goodie – Andy Williams with his 1960s hipster groove, singing “Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season.” – Here’s a version (with his brothers) that was on his Christmas special in 1964. Andy Williams recorded 44 albums and sold over 100 million records during his career.